Strip feeding means



Jan. 9, 1962 R. A. HIGONN'ET ETAL STRIP FEEDING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 8, 1956 INVENTORS H IGONN ET MOYROUD ATTORNEYS Jan. 9, 1962 Original Filed June 8, 1956 R. A. HIGONNET ETAL STRIP FEEDING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 5

INVENTORS RENE A. HIGONNET BYLOUIS M. MOY OUD ATTORNEYS United States Patent O The present invention relates to spacing mechanisms,

and more particularly to mechanisms suitable for feeding sensitized film in photographic type composing apparatus. This application is a division of our copending application Serial No. 590,306, filed June 8, 1956 now Patent No. 2,933,990.

An object of the invention is to provide means for spacing the characters in a line of type, and also for spacingthe successive lines in a page.

Another object is to provide mechanism for handling sensitized film in the form of a roll, with character spacing being accomplished in the direction transverse to the direction of film feed and line spacing being accomplished by feeding the film, or vice versa.

A further object is to provide means for reversing the direction of film feed.

A still further object is to provide simplified apparatus for accomplishing the above spacing operations with accuracy of a high order. I

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the features of the invention include novel roll film feeding mechanism having means to reverse the direction of feed.

Another feature resides in the use of a single variable escapement to accomplish both character spacing and line spacing, with suitable controls for connecting the said escapement alternatively with the character and line spacing mechanisms. By this means, we achieve considerable simplicity of construction and economy of manufacture, while retaining a high order of accuracy in spacing, as is necessary in the art of type composition. I

Another feature resides in provision for housing the film in a demountable light-tight magazine, with provision for accurate registration-of-the magazine on the body of the composing machine. The composing machine houses a pant of the feeding mechanism and the variable escapement necessary to accomplish the endsheretofore mentioned. I a I V Other features of the invention reside in certain features of construction, arrangements of the parts and modes of .operationthat will become clearfrom the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, and from the appended drawings illustrating the same, in which FIG. 1 is a side elevation. in section of the line spacing mechanism with certain related controls and other parts for connecting said mechanism with a variable escape,

ment;

FIG. 2 is an elevation in section of the character-spacing mechanism;

FIG. 3 is an elevation in section taken online 3-3 of FIG. 1 showing details of the film feeding mechanism;

FIG. 4. is a circuit-diagram -showing a circuit for actuating the variable escapement; and

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of a sequence timing and control switch connected with .thevariou's parts of the 65 I I I 3 further assumed that the reversible drive for the sprocket 38 is illustratediin the corresponding position with the apparatus asshown and described.

Referring to FIGI 1, there-is provided a rigid frame 12; which maybe the frame of a photographic type composing apparatus of the general type shown and described in our. copending application Serial No. 770,320, filed August 23, 1947, now Patent No. 2,790,362. .Thismachineis in tended for the composition of text matter directly on av 3,016,209 Patented J an. 9, 1 962 piece of sensitized film without the intermediate use of lead casting apparatus. I A film magazine 14 providing a lighttight enclosure for a roll of film 16 is adapted to be accurately and detachably mounted upon the frame 12. The magazine has a rigid frame portion 18 having a window 20 for exposure of the film. The frame 18 also has a V-gpoove 22 adapted to be rested accurately over a bar 24 secured'to the frame 12, and a lug 26 adapted to bear accurately upon an abutment of the frame 12. The combination of the V-groove suspension and the lug 26 provides accurate means for locating the film in relation to the character projection apparatus hereinafter more fully described.

The magazine is provided with a cover 28 which completely encloses the film. Within the magazine are roupon a shaft 40 to which is pinned a worm wheel 42.v

The Wheel 42 engagm with a Worm 44 pinned to a shaft 46 rota-tably supported in the frame 18 externally of the film housing. The shaft 46 also has a pinion 48 pinned thereto which engages a pinion 50 pivotally supported upon a fixed studshaft 52. A bevel gear 54 is secured to the pinion 50 and is adapted to engage alternatively one i or the other of a pair of integral gears 56 comprising a reversing mechanism. An extension of the gears 56 includes a grooved portion 58 in which tides an arm 60 supported on a fixed pivot and adapted to be rotated by the armature of a magnet 62. The gear member 56 is keyed to a shaft 64 with freedom to slide longitudinally thereon. The feeding of the film from one spool to the otheris accomplished by the application of torque to the shaft 64 which, through the reversing mechanism just described, turns the sprocket 38.

This same shaft 64 also supplies power for a friction drive on the feed and takeup spools.

v A pair of bevel gears 66 and 68 connect the shaft 64 with a shaft 70 to which are pinned a pair of worms 72 and 74. (See also FIG. 3.) The worms 72 and 74 engage, respectively, a

worm gear 76 pinned on a shaft 78 and worm gear 80 pinned on a shaft 82. Friction drives 84 and 86 couple the shafts ,78 and 82 with the spools 30 and 32,respec- I tively. The friction drive 84 -is stronger than'the drive,

8 6 so as to take up backlash in the feeding mechanism in the same direction at an, times. d

The worms 72 and 74 are arranged to rotate the spools 30' and 32 in opposing. directions, that is, each in therappropriatedirection tending to causeit to take up'the film 16.' Thus the' fil'm may be fed ineitherdirection by appropriately energizing or deenergizing the magnet 62 which determines the .directiofiofturning of the drive procket 38 Such feeding isaccomplished in either ase, by moving thefifilm in'oppos'ition to one or the other of the friction drives-'84 or 86, andthe film16 is thus continuou'sly under tension. 1

1 I For thepurpose of 'thedescription tolfollow, i t may, I

be assumed that the direction of film feeding for spacing,

between the successive lines of type composition is from the feed spool 30, to the takeup spool 32. It may be magnet 62 deen'ergized.

in Patent 2,670,665 to Caldwell, and includes a continu ously rotating character disk 88, an intermittent flash device 90, a stationary collimating lens 92, and a sliding carriage 94 including a converging lens 96 to form the images on the film 16 and a right angle reflector element 98. The sliding carriage 94 i secured to a rack 100 slidably received in the frame 12. A magnet 101' may be energized to hold the rack in any desired position. A pinion 102 is received on a shaft -4 (see also FIG. 1) so that it may slide longitudinally with respect thereto; but it is also keyed to the shaft so as to prevent rotation of the pinion relatively thereto. The pinion has a grooved extension in which is received a lever 106, an arm of which is pivotally secured to the armature of a magnet 108.

The shaft 104 extends from a variable escapement 110,

here shown in block form. The variable cscapement mechanism may be of any suitable type, but it is preferably of the differential gear form shown and described in our copending application Serial No. 590,304, filed June 8, 1956, now abandoned. When the magnet 108 is deenergized the pinion 102 is engaged with the rack 110; and when the magnet 10% is energized the pinion 102 is moved out of engagement with the rack. As illustrated, the shaft 104 is continuously engaged with the variable escapement, and it is preferably the output shaft of the highest order stage in the binary'differential mechanism of said last-mentioned application.

Engagement of the shaft 104 with the shaft 64 is accomplished by means of a clutch magnet 112 which causes engagement when energized. The particular form of clutch shown is merely illustrative, and may be replaced by any other suitable clutch means, known to the art.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that a single variable escapement mechanism has been provided, the said escapement having a shaft 104 which may be coupled alternatively with the shaft 64 or with.

the rack 100. Such connections are always alternative Since character spacing and line spacing operations are not produced simultaneously in type composition.

The operation of the above-described apparatus is under the control of a stepping switch 114 (FIG. 5) having a brush 116 which rotates in a counterclockwise direction from a position 0 through positions a to j.. (Other positions of the switch pertain to other operations of the machine that may be disregarded for purposes of the present description.) 0

As described in'said application Serial No. 770,320, now Patent No. 2,790,362, the characters in a given line of type are selected by the machine operator on a keyboard, and the keyboard is connected with a suitable register or memory device which stores information correspending to each selected character and word space. A f justifier is also-actuated to compute the additional increments to be inserted at selected positions in the line in.

order to justifyit. Once the line has been registered, the characters are transcribed. onto the film in justified spacing by suitable means which are actuated by" the information in the register, first,-to' time the moments of'energization of the flash device 90, and second, to energize the variable escapement after each flash of light tofspace the succeeding character images according to their respective widths and the widths of word spaces or justification increments to be inserted. Apparatus for' the foregoing purposes is notdescribed in detail herein since *itforms no part of the present invention and is adequately described in the above-mentioned applications.

The apparatus of FIGS. 1, 2 and 5 is illustrated in the condition that obtains at the start of transcription of a registered line. The magnet 108 is de-energized, whereby the pinion 102 is engaged with the rack 100 and the magnet 112 is de-energized to disengage the shaft'64 ofthe film feeding mechanism from the shaft 104 extending from the variable escapement 110. As described in said application Serial No. 590,304, filed June 8, 1956, the variable escapement is provided with input magnets M1 to M128 (FIG. 4), which are-the input magnets arranged in binary order for energizati'on in selected combinations according to the widths of spacing desired. We show a set of manually-operated keys 118 for determining, for each separate character, word, space or justification increment, the combination of magnets to be energized. It will be understood, however, that these keys are in reality the contacts of suitable relays energized by the register as described in said application Serial No. 770,320 now Patent No. 2,790,392. However, connection of the variable escapement magnets with the keys requires energization of a relay 120'. This relay is energized through closure of a key 122. The key 122 may be replaced by automatically operated contacts closed alternately with the energization of the flash device 90.

The circuit for energizing the magnets M1 to M128 passes through the key 122 and a rectifier 124 to a lead 126 connected with the keys 118. The transcription proceeds in step-by-step fashion, with the carriage 94 carrying the reflector 98 moving along the window 20 of the film magazine 14 as the characters are successively projected and spaced transversely of the principal dimension of the roll of film 16.

After all of the characters in the line have been transcribed, the stepping switch 114 (FIG. 5) steps from position "0 to positions a, b, c and d in succession. Certain connections are closed by the switch in these positions to cause the variable escapement 110 to return the sliding carriage 94 to its original position for the next ,line of characters. The circuits and apparatus associated with these positions of the stepping switch 114 are shown and described in detail in said copending application Serial No. 590,304, filed June 8, 1956, and are not further described herein. It is assumed for present purposes that when the switch 114 moves from position d to position e, the reflector carriage will have been returned to the left-hand margin as aforesaid and is ready to begin the spacing of the characters in the next line. However, prior to transcription of the next line, it is necessary to advance the film by an appropriate distance corresponding to the point size of the projected characters and the leading required. These operations are controlled by positions e through j of the stepping switch 114 as hereinafter described in detail.

Dining line spacing, the keys 118, which were closed in successive combinations corresponding to the character, word and increment spaces during the transcription of the characters, are closed by the. machine operator in a combination representing the numerical value s/a, where s? is the desired spacing between lines and a is an integer between 1 and 6 A group of'keys 128 is provided,'and the operator also closes a number of these keys equal to the digit a. The keys 128 are assumed to be left open during the transcription of the line, and to be closed as required after the transcription is completed and immediately before the feeding of the film as hereinafter described. A stepping switch 130 isaailso in fixed position. Thejmagnet1108-di'sengages the variable escapem-ent from the rack100, and the rack is. not re-engaged until theswitch reaches position i.

Upon reaching position f, the switch 1'14 sends a voltage. to a lead 138 to energize the'clutch magnet 112 engaging the shaft104 of-the variable escapement 110.

with the. shaft '64 the film'feeding mechanism (FIG.

1). This engagement is continued through the following position of the switch 114.

Upon arrival in position g, the switch 114 sends a voltage to a lead 140 which energizes the magnet 120. Pulses generated by the cam 132 now pass through the closed contacts of the relay 120 to the brush and motor magnet 134 of the switch 130 and this switch steps rapidly through each of its positions, sending an impulse to the lead 126 through each of the keys 128 that has been closed. Thus the number of impulses reaching-the lead 126 equals the number of the keys 128 that have been closed. (After reaching all of its illustrated positions, the switch 130 is returned to its original position by suitable homing means familiar to those skilled in the art and therefore not shown.) Thus the magnets M1 to M128 are energized once or several times in succession, each time in the same combination as determined by the keys 118. The total resultant escapement is therefore equal to the required space between the lines, and this is transmitted from the output shaft 104 of the variable escapement 110 to the shaft 64 of the line spacing mech anism. The necessary rotation is imparted to the sprocket wheel 38 for driving the film, and to the shaft 70 for operating the friction drives, as heretofore described in detail. Thus the line spacing is accomplished in one or more steps of variable size, and great precision is obtained due to the fact that relatively large angular displacements of the variable escapement are necessary to effect even small displacements of the film through the worm gear drive 42, 44. Upon arrival of the switch 114 in position h, the clutch magnet 112 is de-energized to disengage the film feeding mechanism from the variable escapement 110. p

In position i" of the switch 114, a lead 142 is energized. This lead is connected with apparatus not described herein but shown and fully described in said copending application Serial No. 590,304, filed June 8,

connected with the variable escapement, and including friction drives for the feed and takeup spools, whereby the film may be reversed through reversal of the direction of rotation of the drive sprocket 38 under the control of a magnet 62. Great precision is obtained in movements of the film for line spacing through provision of worm gear reductions connected with the variable escapement,

and adjustment of the relative forces of the friction drives 84and 86 to take up backlash in the same direction at all times.

It will be understood that'while the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, such modifications in the disclosed design, structure and arrangement of the parts as would occur to one skilled in the art upon a reading of the foregoing specification maybe made thereupon without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, we claim:

1. Film feeding means for photographic typographical projection apparatus having, in combination, a feed spool and a takeup spool for the film, a light-tight housing in which the spools are rotatably mounted, each of said spools having a friction clutch, a first drive shaft rotatably supported in and extending from the housing and engaged with theclutches to urge the spools to tend to cause the film to move in opposing directions, a second drive shaft rotatably supported in and extending from the housing, drive means engaged with said second shaft and with the film, a reversing mechanism connected with the second shaft externally of the housing, a third drive shaft engaged with said first shaft and said mechanism externally of the housing, and an intermittent variable drive for said third shaft.

2. Film feeding means for photographic typographical projection apparatus having, in combination, a feed spool and a takeup spool for the film, a light-tight housing in which the spools are rotatably mounted, each of said 1956, whereby the variable escapement is reset to an specifically, this involves setting each of the stages of the escapement to the 0 position in binary notation.

Upon reaching position j, the switch 114 de-energizes the magnets 101 and 108 bydisconnecting the voltage from the lead 135 (FIG. 1), thereby allowing the pinion 102 to slide into engagement with the rack 100 and engaging the variable escapement 110 with the sliding carriage 94. The parts are thus returned to the initial positions assumed above.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that there has been provided a simplified arrangement for spacing the characters and lines of type in photographic type composing apparatus, employing a single variable escapement for both purposes. Automatic sequence control means are provided for shifting the variable escapement from character spacing to line spacing automatically. There is also described a novel film drive adapted to be spools having a friction clutch, a first drive shaft rotatably supported in and extending'from the housing and engaged with the clutches to urge the spools to tend to cause the film to move in opposing directions, one of said clutches being adaptedto exert an appreciably stronger tension on the film than the other clutch, a second drive shaft rotatably supported in and extending from the housing, drive means engaged with said second shaft and with the film, a reversing mechanism connected with the second shaft externally of the housing, a third drive shaft engaged with said first shaft and said mechanism externally of the housing, and an intermittent variable drive for said third shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,705,599 McCollough Apr. 5, 1955 2,706,637 Cain Apr. 19, 1955 2,733,871 Reinhold Feb. 7, 1956 2,745,604 Masterson May 15, 1956 

